Brew Dudes

I have been dreaming up recipe combinations and thinking of ingredients I haven’t worked with yet.  That has brought me to rye malt.  I recently had some Harpoon Rye IPA and really enjoyed it.  Perhaps that was a kick in the memory bank that I’ve never brewed with rye, for I know I have had other beers brewed with rye as well.

Well here is a rough sketch of a recipe ideas, not a defined recipe as of yet.

Certainly I am thinking of going to 25-35% rye malt in the base, with a simple US-2 row to compose the rest of the base.  I am not looking to make a traditional Roggenbier. More of an American inspired Rye Pale Ale.

For an initial attempt I might shy away from 50% or more rye to avoid body and lautering issues.  To complement that rye I was thinking of  perhaps 5% Special B, mainly because I love the color and second the flavor I’d expect from it.  Maybe a 2% or so addition of crystal for some backing sweetness, or 2% victory or biscuit malt to drive a more bready character home.
For hopping I was thinking some combination of NortherBrewer and Chinook.  These two might play together nicely to help drive home that anticipated spicy character one expects out of rye malt.
I’d expect on the first run to go with a neutral American ale yeast, or maybe one of these new “San Diego” or “West Coast” type yeast strains I randomly see popping up.  No matter the yeast choice I think its best to work hard to drive attenuation to its max, get that beer as dry as possible to wring out the rye flavor…I guess that might exclude the idea of crystal malt in there, eh?

Well, that’s a snapshot of the inner workings of my mind on recipe generation.  This will be one to revisit once the promise of spring really starts to rear its head.

BREW ON!

Normally I don’t care too much about the clarity of the beer I am drinking. However, when presenting homebrewed beer to family and friends that are only used to drinking super clear beer, sometimes a clearer beer might make it easier to swallow.

I use Whirfloc in the kettle to assist with break formation and protein co-aggulation during the chill. But there is a further level of fining to be tried post the kettle.  A common fining agent to use would be gelatin.

Gelatin fining beer post fermentation helps to remove some of the other haze forming molecules. Specifically, gelatin can remove some of the yeast, but also poly phenols that can come from the grain and the hops.  These things all contribute to haze, especially in chilled beer.

Here’s the general process for trying gelatin fining:

Straight up plain gelatin from the grocery store that is non-dyed and non flavored is just fine to use.

Heat a cup of clean water to 180F, sprinkle in 1-2tbs/5gallon to be fined, into the water.

Let the gelatin sit for 15 minutes or more to get it to “bloom”.

Then slowly stir the gelatin solution until it dissolves.  Reheating may be needed to get dissolution, but avoid boiling the solution or you’ll lose the fining potential of the gelatin.

Add the gelatin solution to the top of a carboy or keg of finished beer that is uncarbonated and chilled to serving temps.

Let the gelatin solution sit for 2-3 days in the beer.

Rack the beer to a new keg or to a bottling bucket.  (If you are going to bottle a small amount of dry yeast added back may be necessary, but that might negate the point of doing this.  Obviously, the technique would work best in the kegging environment.)

So that’s what I have read about the process. I am going to gelatin fine my Falconers flight IPA and then my Irish Red Ale as well.

I’ll be sure to mention the results in future posts and tasting vids.

BREW ON!